Pittsburgh sports talk with the Trib columnist

Wakeup Call: Second helping of Steelers

Exempting William Gay since he took his job way back in Week 2, which backup do you feel has been most effective or most important?

>> Dan O’Hallaran, one of the referees working the Penguins-Rangers game last night at Madison Square Garden, had an extended discussion with New York coach John Tortorella. This was after the first period, it happened on the ice right by the Rangers’ bench. It went on for several minutes. And Tortorella appeared to do almost all of the talking.

Which basically means O’Hallaran put himself into position to get an earful from one coach during what still is the official game in progress.

There are no rules against this, but it looks awful.

And it looked that much worse when the Rangers were awarded six of the seven power plays after that.

>> That said, the Penguins did do some stupid things to draw a couple of those penalties in the third period while trying to come back. They’re hardly absolved.

>> Mike Tomlin did all the usual glowing about the Bengals at his news conference, but it sure seems easier to digest after seeing them a couple weeks ago, doesn’t it?

The Bengals are a wholly legit 7-4, and I take back my skepticism from before their close losses to the Steelers and Ravens, followed by a close win over the Browns. They’ve been competitive all through their schedule to this point, and I can’t imagine anyone questioning Andy Dalton at this point.

>> Anyone complaining that Jim Boeheim isn’t getting it from the media the way Joe Paterno did is overlooking or ignoring one gigantic difference: There is no evidence or even an allegation that Boeheim knew anything. We knew that about Paterno from the morning the grand jury report came out.